Question

The disease caused by asbestos is
A. Emphysema
B. Paralysis
C. Diarrhea
D. Dysentery

Answer 1

Hint: Asbestos is very dangerous to human health. Prolonged exposure can lead to several different diseases. It takes over 20-50 years for these asbestos diseases to become apparent, as the fibers progressively worsen human health.

Complete Answer:
- Asbestos was mainly used in many industries because of its natural fire resistance, sound absorption, and insulation properties. When asbestos fibers enter the air, they can enter the body and get accumulated in major body parts like the lungs. These fibers remain in the body forever once inside and slowly damage healthy cells until asbestos diseases develop.
- Asbestosis is a chronic lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers. The symptoms mostly show up after 10 to 40 years. The signs and symptoms may include shortness of breath, a persistent dry cough, loss of appetite, club-shapes finger and toe-nails, chest tightness and pain, etc.
- People who have asbestosis may develop COPD as a complication. Individuals having COPD have difficulty breathing and the causes are smoking and environmental toxins. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a lung disease that usually refers to chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
- In patients with emphysema, the air sacs in the lungs (alveoli) are damaged. Gradually, the inner walls of the air sacs weaken and rupture creating larger air spaces instead of many small ones. This reduces the surface area of the lungs and also the amount of oxygen that reaches the bloodstream.
- When the person exhales, the damaged alveoli won't work properly and old air becomes trapped, leaving no space for the oxygen-rich air to enter. The causes for emphysema are smoking, exposure to smoke, persistent or occupational inhalation of fumes or dust such as asbestos, pollution, etc.

Hence, the correct answer is option A, “Emphysema”.

Note: Emphysema is a progressive lung disease that is classified under a broader category of a respiratory disease called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). It may be caused due to long term exposure to toxic dust such as asbestos fibers.